The Download

App Texts You When It’s Time To Take Your Pills

My husband and I are in a love triangle, and it’s making our relationship healthier. The dude (that’s what we call it) is a little intrusive, but that’s what makes him so important in our lives.

He is fondly referred to as Mr. MedCoach, in our house, and he sends us instant messages on our smartphones when it’s time to take our meds.

Full disclosure: “he” really isn’t a “he”, but rather a terrific new app we’ve embraced called MedCoach.

Every night at 6:30 p.m., then again at 9:30 and 10 p.m., my husband gets a text message from MedCoach reminding him it’s time to take a certain medication. Prior to having “the dude” in our lives, we would be watching TV or reading, and the 9:30 p.m. time would slip by us. This caused him a lot of aggravation, as his med schedule was thrown off.

Not anymore. As long as he has his phone by his side, he gets the gentle text reminder. It’s been great!

MedCoach, designed by GreatCall, the folks that brought us the Jitterbug phone, is an app for iPhones and Androids that makes medication management easy. This great little app allows you to enter all of your medications, including supplements.

Main page

Here’s how it works:

First you enter your medications from a huge list that’s provided. You can even photograph each pill if you want and the picture is displayed next to the medication name.

You enter the dosages and the time of day you want to be reminded to take the pill. You can enter as many different times as you want.

Then at the appointed time, you get a text message that says,” Message from Medcoach You have a medication reminder.” It’s that simple.

Once you take the pill you touch “just taken”, “took as shown” or “skip” on the screen.

There are other great features that include a refill reminder log, a pharmacy information page, a doctor’s contact list and an easy to find customer support page.

Another neat feature is the help bubble. No matter what screen you are on, if you have a question about its navigation, just shake your phone and a help bubble will appear with more detailed operating instructions. Because the app is so easy to read and navigate, the added help seems to always answer the impending question.

To be sure you’re taking all the meds you scheduled, a red circle with a white number, indicating of all of the meds you may have

See the Number 10 in the Medcoach icon–that means I have 10 missed medications

missed, appears on the front of the icon on your phone, and inside of the app. It makes medicine adherence easier, which can make life easier.

Like I said, Mr. MedCoach is a welcome addition into our home.

Do you have a favorite app? Please let us know in the comments section.